Google Maps can now be used for more than just finding out where a particular place is and how to get there — it now includes current weather conditions, too.

Weather information was added to the site at the end of last week, which means you can now get an instant forecast for any place around the world, courtesy of Weather.com.

Current weather conditions are depicted by icons on the map and for cities, clicking one pops up more details, along with a four-day forecast.

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Zoom out to a suitably high level and you’ll also see cloud coverage, although the satellite data provided by the US Naval Research Lab doesn’t extend much into Europe.

Weather information is displayed by holding the mouse pointer over the widget at the top-right of any Google Maps map and, when the list of options appears, clicking to enable “Weather”.

[Google Maps blog]